Lesson 7 - Lead with a ‘wedge issue’ already on the agenda
Essence
It can be very helpful to frame a campaign around pressing issues of concern for the public – so-called ‘wedge issues’ – as they can serve as an effective entry point to a discussion on civic action and rights, which can otherwise be quite abstract and meta for the general public.
Insight
Framing a civic space campaign in an issue that is already a matter of public concern, e.g. education, health care, or employment, can prove beneficial in a number of ways:
- Tapping into a base of existing support – In many countries with civic space challenges, there may be significant support for a strongman leader, but at the same time, there can also be disillusionment and even anger at the performance of government in delivering key services or shortfalls in providing economic stability and opportunities for young people. If you are able to frame your campaign in one of these pressing and very ‘local’ issues and make a case for the key role that CSOs play in the issue, you can build your credibility and public support from a surprisingly broad spectrum of the public. Such an approach in political tactics is said to drive a wedge into a traditional supporter base, and hence, are called ‘wedge issues’.
- Safer than leading on civic rights issues – in many countries with authoritarian rulers where activists are being defamed, arrested or even worse, it is often not safe to campaign directly on civic rights issues to broad public audiences. For example, campaigning on the right to public protest/assembly seems to be a particularly sensitive issue and is often met with strong responses. Therefore, it’s often a more fruitful route to find a less sensitive, shared issue of concern in which to frame a campaign1 .
- Accessible illustration of the role of CSOs and importance of key rights – as well as being a bridge to a broader supporter base, choosing such wedge issues allows you to rather easily illustrate the key role that CSOs play in the more effective delivery of such services as education, welfare and healthcare and how demands for more effective participation and accountability also contribute to better outcomes. Given the fact that the majority of the public has a very vague idea of the role of CSOs (see Lesson 4), this may be a key factor in choosing a wedge issue as the main framing of a campaigning strategy.
To be clear, this lesson is not at odds with Lesson 5 which advocates for a value-based approach. Our advice is to identify a unifying value appeal to build on around the chosen chosen wedge issue. For example, the case below chose to frame a key message in their campaigns around the key role in of CSOs in the delivery of health care services. So, starting from an aspiration for good health and fair access to healthcare for the wider population will open a door to the issue and unify the values shared by civil society and the wider public.
Case
- Kyrgyzstan – The campaign aimed at fighting a proposed ‘foreign agents’ law was able to draw on two key wedge issues to frame the campaign and illustrate the key role of CSOs in these issues: provision of services (especially health care) and the contribution of the civil society sector to the economy in contributions and providing employment.
Delivery of services (especially health care) – One of the large-scale roles of the civil society sector is the provision of all kinds of services to people all over the country. This was particularly important to the public in the health care services area. One of the stronger messages that campaigners reported that really hit home was that the MPs proposing this anti-CSO bill would not be able to replace the services they would be de facto shutting down in passing the legislation. The figure numbered 3 below explains and quantifies the contribution of the Kyrgyz civil society sector:
Contribution to the economy – The campaign was able to show that the size of the civil sector in the broader economy was significant by quantifying the contribution to GDP (see Figure numbered 1 below). Additionally, the campaign determined the value of the contributions made by the sector by equating the tax payments of CSOs to pension payments (see Figure numbered 5 below). In this way, the campaign also showed what would be lost if the law were passed.
Action
- Keep looking for wedge opportunities that can legitimately be connected to the work of CSOs - One of the Kazakh campaigners we supported reported that they were able to use a case of harassment of a woman on public transport that got a lot of publicity to show the key role of CSOs in supporting victims. Through this connection that made sense as a good fit with the work of the CSO in question, the organisation was able to keep this issue on the agenda through a targeted campaign.
What you can get wrong
- Picking an issue that could backfire – The #Azamatbol (#Good Citizen) campaign was being developed in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kazakhstan and in such a difficult time, CSOs jumped in to fill the gaps where the government was failing. This seemed like a near perfect opportunity to lead a campaign on a wedge issue. However, after a round of testing on this framing, it became clear that such an appeal did not trigger a supportive response, but rather generated more anger and sadness as virtually everyone in the testing knew someone close who had died as a result of the virus. This may have worked at a later point, but the campaigning coalition decided to stick with more uplifting and positive stories for the planned campaign.